The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has decided to cancel Libya’s Ittihad and Ivory Coast ASEC Mimosas home matches against Nigeria’s Enyimba and Morocco’s Raja Club Athletic in the African Champion League round of 16 and play decider games instead.
CAF decided to cancel the home-and-away system for Ittihad and ASEC Mimosas clubs and instead have them play decider matches on the opponents’ soil, avoiding the insecurity in Ivory Coast and Libya resulting from political upheavals.
The decision was taken according to CAF regulations Article 5 Paragraph 15, which reads: “If the first leg match is to be played outside the country at war, then the opponent, which will play host for the first leg, shall take the necessary measures for the organisation of the match. If the visiting team shows up, only one match shall be played.”
The streets of the Ivory Coast are not completely secure yet as the country is recovering from a civil war following the ousting of former president Laurent Gbagbo, while Libya is still struggling as they see daily battles in many city between rebels and leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
The Enyimba/Ittihad decider is scheduled on 8 May in Nigeria, while the Raja Club Athletic/ASEC Mimosas match will be played in Morocco, during the weekend of 6, 7, 8 May.
CAF also delayed a third match: the Coton Sport match against E.S de Setif has been postponed to 7 May on request from Coton Sport, who have four players in the Cameroon U-20 team currently playing in the African Youth Championship in South Africa.
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